Television ratings surge for instant-classic men's final at WImbledon

The Wimbledon men's final generated high television ratings around the world, with Novak Djokovic winning in five sets against Roger Federer to capture his fifth title at The Championships.

The match got a 3.0 rating on ESPN, peaking at a 4.6 rating. That is around double the rating of last year's men's final, between Djokovic and Kevin Anderson, and it was the network's third-highest telecast of tennis, behind the 2012 final between Federer and Andy Murray, and the Williams sisters' quarterfinal at the 2015 US Open. Each rating point represents around a million homes.

In Great Britain, the BBC attracted a peak of 9.3 million viewers, and it the most watched sporting event of the day despite competition from other big sporting events such as the final of the cricket World Cup, won by England in a tight finish, and F1 racing.

The final also set a record for its cable-channel broadcast in France, where it received an average of 429,000 viewers and a peak of 816,000 viewers. In Spain, it got an average 300,000 viewers and was the most-watched sporting event in the country.

The Australian network showing the final got an average of more than 274,000 viewers despite finishing at around 4 a.m. local time. That was also higher than the rating of the cricket World Cup final.

The meeting between Dokovic and Federer was the first singles match to finish in a deciding-set tiebreak at Wimbledon, and the longest final in tournament history.

Djokovic is No. 1 in the rankings. Federer is No. 3 in the rankings.